DANNY BOYLE - DANNY BOYLE FILM TO CLOSE 52ND LONDON FILM FESTIVAL

DANNY BOYLE FILM TO CLOSE 52ND LONDON FILM FESTIVAL

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire has been announced as the closing film for the Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival.

London's West End will play host to the European premiere of the film, the story of an 18-year-old Mumbai orphan who finds himself one question away from winning a 20 million rupee prize on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Dev Patel - Anwar on E4's Skins - stars as Jamal Malik, the film's hero who faces police questioning about his presence on the show and incredible knowledge on the eve of answering the crucial final question.

Sandra Hebron, the London Film Festival's artistic director, said she was "thrilled" to close the 2008 festival with Boyle's film.

"Pulling together a wealth of talent from two continents to tell this moving and truly contemporary tale, Slumdog Millionaire will bring this year's Festival to a vibrant and cheering close," she added.

And Trainspotting director Boyle professed his delight at the festival hosting Slumdog Millionaire's European premiere.

He went on: "I hope that Londoners will respond to this story about another great megatropolis - Mumbai, 'the Maximum City'."

Slumdog Millionaire will be screened at the London Film Festival on October 30th.

The full programme for this year's London Film Festival is to be announced on Wednesday September 10th.